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Thursday, March 31, 2011

Birth order characteristics of fabric

I had this weird idea the other day. Mark's eyes kind of glazed over when I told him about it. A few minutes ago I finished reading the Blue Elephant Stitches blog post, "writing while pinning," where she says: "I often find myself thinking in the form of writing, and I can write some quite interesting, informative, well-thought out and even witty stuff in my head... but you'll just have to take my word for it, cause it rarely gets any farther than that."

I do the same thing. Usually in the shower. Or if I wake up in the middle of the night. Usually those middle-of-the-night ideas sometimes seem weird in the light of day. This may be one of those very ideas. But I'm going to go with it anyway.

I don't even know why I was thinking about birth order character traits. Mark and I have one son. Clearly not an issue for us. But it's still interesting to read about different traits children may possess based on their "place" in the family. At the same time, I was kind of obsessing over fabric by Denyse Schmidt, probably because I just finished Pop Beads, my quilt top using Flea Market Fancy, and I've got two quilt tops in the works using Hope Valley. I came super late to the whole FMF party. And as I mentioned, I have paid more than I care to admit to build my collection. Why? Because I really REALLY like it. I like a lot of fabric lines, but this one probably tops the list.

Pretty much missed out on Katie Jump Rope too, so I've been collecting that as well. And I like it. Not as much as FMF, but KJR is pretty social and plays pretty well with FMF.

When Hope Valley came out, at first I was kind of "ehh, whatever" about it but she has really grown on me.

When Denyse's latest line came out, well, I'll be honest, I have not purchased a single fat quarter of it. I've seen some cool quilts made with it, but I think was more intrigued with the quilt design than the fabric. (My apologies to all of you who consider it one of your favorites.)

Flea Market Fancy (the first-born child): natural leader, high achiever, organized, bossy (not sure about that but someone was telling me to buy, buy, buy!), adult-pleaser. "First-born children desire control and they will typically become a compliant nurturer or a more aggressive mover and shaker." Seems pretty accurate. I don't believe I have seen any other fabric lines that caused a a write-in campaign to Freespirit Fabrics begging them to reprint. But they decided to move on...

Katie Jump Rope and Hope Valley (the middle children): flexible, easy-going, social, peacemakers (or substitute piecemakers!). "The middle child(ren) will demonstrate the greatest variety of character traits, but they will usually be opposite of their older sibling."

Greenfield Hill (the last child--although I'm sure this only temporary until the next "child" comes along): risk-taker, creative, self-centered, competitive, bored easily. "They are also often driven to catch up with their older siblings and follow in their footsteps." We'll see.

If you are still here, then I think you deserve a little compensation for your attention. So how about the scraps from my Pop Beads quilt?

What makes our hearts race a little faster when we see certain fabric is so subjective. That's why we sometimes have to perform CPR on our credit cards (to quote a commenter from yesterday).

Here is the question to answer: Where do you fall in the birth order in your family? Any characteristics you feel like sharing with the rest of us? You can also comment on whether or not this was too weird a topic that I should have kept to myself, but it won't give you an extra chance at winning. (hehe)

I'll pick a winner on Saturday at 6 p.m. PDT.

ETA: I mean no disrespect whatsoever to fabric designers or fabric lines. I'm glad they are out there designing fabulous fabric for us to work with, something I myself could never do. I also realize the pressure to do something different and wonderful each and every time must be phenomenal. I have just been spending a lot of time with these specific lines lately, and my mind kind of went off on a little tangent.

52 comments:

OK, I'll bite on your birth order theory if you can apply it to another designer (and don't do Heather Ross, that's too easy). But I think, as with siblings, there is a lot of pressure for the newer fabric collections (aka - younger siblings) to live up to the standard set by the oldest.

I am one of three sisters ~ the oldest is disorganized but passionate, the second is career-driven but laidback, and the youngest is very creative but bored easily. I'm the third sister and I'd say I'm the most organized of all of us, and a little bit of passionate, laidback, and creative. And I'm the "middle" child because we have a little brother too :)

I am the baby and truly the forgotten child in my family due to a lot of things that happened before I was born until I was eleven. I had to be independent and I saw what the others did or didn't do so I had a clear path. I was an over achiever, a perfectionist and dependable. Not necessarily a last child, but there were extenuating circumstances that forced me to do things in an unusual way.

I am a middle child (and I feel it!). I think it applies to this line but can you do it again? Or is it that you love what you see first? I like parts of all three lines but I wouldn't go bankrupt to get any of them!

My four sisters and I definitely fit birth order descriptions! They think I'm bossy and organized and productive, I think I'm a compliant nurturer... I think that illustrates we're all correct!I've also composed such lovely letters to friends and family - in my head - and never sent them; what a shame!

I'm a hard one to figure out...only child for 4 years...then the youngest for a year when my Mom remarried...eventually ended up the middle child of 5. I think I have more traits of an older child though...

I love birth order stuff, too...I had never thought about applying it to fabric...fun post!

Not sure how to classify myself. If I count my half-siblings then I'm the last child, but I am the only child of my parents together so that makes me first and last. =) I think I have a pretty good blend of both first and last child characteristics.

I am the middle child, and you hit the nail on the head! I have always been the peacemaker, whether between siblings or parents. Now as an adult, I am STILL a peacemaker and also a PIECEmaker. :o) Katie Jump Rope and Hope Valley? Those lines scream my name. ;o)

That is hysterical - and so true!!! I think it would definitely be fun to look at this via another designer...not sure it would work, but I definitely agree with your thoughts on DS's lines! I'm the last child (although I'm 17 years younger than my brother and 10 years younger than my sister, so I'm kind of like an only child at the same time), and I think I have mostly the first born traits.

I'm crossing my fingers on this giveaway - I don't have a single piece of FMF and would love to have some!!

First born and (if you ask my brothers) bossy fits. I have great ideas for organization, and many have been implemented. Unfortunately, I also suffer from procrastination :-/ So, while the infrastructure exists, it doesn't always get used regularly.

I am oldest. Bossy, aggressive, and a neat freak. Practically raised my younger brother since our single mom worked so much. He still jokes about how I tried to mother him.Also, it's fantastic that you are giving these a way. I have never had any, and would love to play with some! I missed out on that one. I have only been really sewing for about a year. Thanks for sharing!

I, like you came to the FMF party late and would love to have more. I am kind of intrigued by your birth order theory, and agree about the oldest being quite the standard to live up to. Thanks for the giveaway.

Well, I love how your mind works, Cindy! Since, I am a bit older than you, and said to be controlling and bossy, I sure hope that applies to getting my "younger" sister to pick me for her cast-offs! LOL(BTW, I am the oldest of five children. If you ask any of them if the birth order theory holds water...I think they would agree!)

I'm the second of 2, but my brother is 5 years older & well-he's a guy! When we were young, he definitely tried to boss me around but it didn't work too well!I think this is really fun how it might relate to fabrics & think it would be a fun subject again with some of the other designers. I actually can think of a few who haven't bowled me over until a much later line

I actually always do the writing in my head thing! Whenever I'm sat at the sewing machine I plan all these fantastically literary pieces for my blog. Needless to say they never get written...!

I was the oldest of 2 siblings, and so far your descriptions are pretty much bang on. However, I guess I am now the "middle child" (divorce, remarriage, both parents), as I have 3 older and 2 younger step siblings. There's no way I'm adopting the middle child syndrome though, I'll always be the first in my heart!

lol, great post :)i was too late for fmf and even missed out on kjr (i could hunt down some prints; but as i'm not willing to pay extraordinary prices, it was an extra-lucky find). and i'm with you with greenfield hill...ugh, it totally doesn't speak to me (no offense meant to all gfh lovers!)

i'm the youngest of two. what i've experienced, is, that 2nd childs are - often - more easily to handle (as infants/toddlers), because...well, there's another child (the older sibling) who needs to be taken care of and the parents have gone through the experience of parenthood before.i can't really find myself either in 2nd or youngest child; i've characteristics of all three categories :)

I am 2nd in a line of 6 siblings. I would say that I am organized but not excessive, an achiever, goal oriented and list maker. Never thought of birth order too much but I guess there something to be said for these traits.

I totally get this correlation, especially with this particular designer- it always takes a while for her designs to grow on me before I fall in deep with them. I'm the oldest- my daughter is a single, makes it easier!

I totally get this correlation, especially with this particular designer- it always takes a while for her designs to grow on me before I fall in deep with them. I'm the oldest- my daughter is a single, makes it easier!

I'm a middle child...no wonder I love Katie Jump Rope and Hope Valley!(though in all fairness I love FMF) I've always thought that being a middle child meant living with the consequences of the decisions siblings make. Middle kids learn early that life isn't always fair! I'm sure this has nothing to do with the birth order of fabric design...but this has been fun...thanks.

I love that you made this connection. I'm in grad school in a psychology-based program and in all of the many theory classes we end up talking about Adlerian theory and birth order. I'm an oldest child and definitely fit some of those characteristics but also fit some of the only child characteristics as I also held that role for many years. :o) Thanks for the giveaway!

I love that you made this connection. I'm in grad school in a psychology-based program and in all of the many theory classes we end up talking about Adlerian theory and birth order. I'm an oldest child and definitely fit some of those characteristics but also fit some of the only child characteristics as I also held that role for many years. :o) Thanks for the giveaway!

So timely..I torment my dear husband too often about birth order "stuff"(last night most recently!)! I am 4th of 5 girls, 6 yrs between oldest and youngest, and all my observations have to do with "extremities"..or the "outsides" and the "insides". It seems there are always similarities popping up that go in those directions...the oldest and the youngest vs the 3 middle girls. From college graduations to handwriting to body types etc etc etc! Fun post!

I am second in the birth order and entered the quilting world of fabric during Denyse Schmidt's 2nd line--I never knew until today! I will say as the 2nd child I am very good at learning through observation of what works and does not--that FMF release has been tough on my credit card! Great blog!